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For Women’s History Month
Women in Business 2026: The value of visibility [Grant Thornton]
The latest Women in Business research from Grant Thornton International Ltd. reinforces that mid-market firms maintaining or expanding gender equality initiatives are more likely to report revenue and employee growth. Yet representation at the top is moving in the opposite direction. Women now hold 31% of senior leadership roles in the U.S., down from 34% in 2025 and 35% in 2024.
Tech
AI Efficiency Gains Push Accounting Firms to Reimagine Pricing [Bloomberg Law]
Top US accounting firms are developing future pricing models for corporate clients as they pour billions of dollars into artificial intelligence tools that stand to slash billable hours with promised leaps in productivity. “Time’s becoming less and less of relevance,” PwC US Tax Leader Krishnan Chandrasekhar said.
Kraken becomes first crypto company to secure Fed master account access [CoinDesk]
Kraken has secured a Federal Reserve “master account,” giving its banking arm direct access to the Fed’s core payment systems and making it the first crypto firm to operate on the same rails as traditional financial institutions.
Crypto industry could get its long-awaited bill as soon as July, says longtime D.C. insider [Fortune]
It’s a tough slog to pass legislation ahead of U.S. midterm elections, and even more so for stand-alone bills like the so-called Clarity Act—a bill that sets out rules for crypto assets and services to become part of the financial mainstream.
Exclusive: Founded By 2 Brothers In Their 20s, YC-Backed Denki Raises $4.1M To Automate Financial Audits [Crunchbase]
Founded in 2025 by brothers Felipe Jin Li (24) and David Jin Li (20), San Francisco-based Denki aims to build “modern” infrastructure for financial audits, which verify that financial statements are accurate and controls are functioning. The startup wants to help replace manual, “evidence-heavy” processes with software automation that makes audits run more like code.
Context engineering in tax and accounting: The next level of AI workflows [Thomson Reuters]
Context engineering involves carefully organizing and managing all the information an AI model uses when generating a response. While prompt engineering focuses on asking the right questions or providing clear instructions, context engineering is about making sure the model has the right knowledge, tools, and background information before it starts working.
Audit
SEC Actions Against Accounting and Auditing Firms and PCAOB Enforcement Activity Fall to Multiyear Lows in 2025 [PR Newswire]
Accounting and auditing enforcement activity fell in 2025 at both the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), according to two new Cornerstone Research reports, SEC Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Activity—2025 Year in Review and PCAOB Enforcement Activity—2025 Year in Review.
State and Local
Kansas ‘lemonade stand law’ could boost kid businesses with tax, licensing exemptions [Kansas Reflector]
House Bill 2599 exempts minor-owned businesses from paying sales taxes on annual earnings up to $10,000, along with local taxes, licenses, permits and other government permissions.
Audit finds ‘errors and omissions’ in Connecticut government accounting reports from agencies [CT Insider]
Some state agencies overstated financial obligations — in one case by $185 million — and understated revenue earned during the prior fiscal year, a new state audit concluded. “Deficiencies in the state’s internal controls over financial reporting could adversely affect its ability to provide accurate financial information,” auditors wrote in their report.
NC State Auditor finds ‘severe weaknesses’ in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools 2025 finances, according to new report [WXII12]
The report also highlights the district’s lack of “budget to actual” statements, which tracks how much money the district has spent on a monthly basis and how it aligns with the approved budget. Auditors also found that the district kept a substantial amount of money off its books. It recorded about $15 million for FY 2025 in September, months after the fiscal year ended. The district then backdated these expenditures.
Firm hired OTA director’s son after winning lucrative contract [The Oklahoman]
Records show that Poe & Associates, a firm being paid millions by the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority for its work on ACCESS Oklahoma, hired the son of the agency’s former director Tim Gatz shortly after the firm was chosen to oversee the $8.2 billion toll road expansion program.
Tax
IRS Dirty Dozen adds new capital gains scheme for 2026 [Journal of Accountancy]
The IRS has seen a rise in fabricated or inflated filings of Form 2439, Notice to Shareholder of Undistributed Long-Term Capital Gains, which allows shareholders of certain investment funds or real estate trusts to claim a refundable credit for taxes paid on undistributed capital gains. Identified schemes involve overstated or fabricated Form 2439 claims, including claims tied to organizations that are not legitimate investment funds or real estate trusts, the IRS said. The IRS said fake claims falsely linked to real, well-known organizations also are on the rise. The Form 2439 scam replaces a previous entry on fuel tax credit concerns.
Wisconsin study finds tax credit meant to help workers mostly helps big companies [PBS Wisconsin]
Researchers have wondered for decades whether the Work Opportunity Tax Credit pays off, but most states don’t offer the kind of records that would answer that question. Wisconsin does.
